The Curragh Mist

UK (SANEPR.com) July 7, 2008 --
As a celebration of the great days of racing at the Curragh past, present and future, a new song performed by Irish Mist has been produced with the support of the world famous ‘Curragh Racecourse’ in Kildare, Ireland. The recording of ‘The Curragh Mist’ coincides with the launch of the 2008 Curragh racing year, which will be the final season before the racecourse commences a major redevelopment project.

This will transform the complex into one of the world’s most spectacular sporting and leisure venues. “The Curragh Mist”, captures the excitement and dreams of horse racing and celebrates the legendary horses that have been trained on the Curragh Plains to win some of world’s biggest international prizes. The Curragh is undoubtedly one of the most historic sporting venues in Ireland with racing dating back to the time of the Celts, while the first official horse race took place in 1741.

The Curragh stages some of the world’s major races including the Irish Derby and is also home to some of Ireland’s most notable horse trainers including Dermot Weld and John Oxx. They have sent horses from the Curragh to win races all over the world including the Melbourne Cup, Breeders Cup, Belmont Stakes, Epsom Derby and Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe

The song, originally a poem was composed by the renowned Cork poet Mary Buckley Clarke to pay homage to the ambitions and dreams of jockeys who ride out every morning on the famous Curragh Turf. The racecourse approached her with the idea of setting the poem to music to create a wonderful racing anthem to celebrate the new Curragh development. Joe Giltrap composed the music and Michael McDonagh and Andy Reynolds produced the record.

About Irish Mist
In the early 70's, two musicians arrived in London from different parts of Ireland. Singer Joe Giltrap from Co. Kildare and fiddler Malcolm Rogers from Co. Down met by chance and Irish Mist was born. These were troubled times in Ireland but the fact that one was a Catholic from the South and the other a Protestant from, the North was never an issue.

Irish Mist went on to dominate the London Irish folk scene playing for audiences made up of Irish, English, French and Germans as well as Australians, South Africans and other nationals all living in London at the time. Continuing to record and tour Britain and Europe extensively, they were seen by and influenced many of the Irish bands to follow, such as Shane MacGowan and the Pogues.

In the early 80’s Irish Mist performed the classic emigration song, Percy French’s ‘The Mountains of Mourne' on the chart-topping Green Velvet album produced by Michael McDonagh. A video of this song produced by Windmill Lane was later released on the highly successful 'Song for Ireland' TV special and video.

Irish Mist shared the concert stages with The Fureys, The Dubliners, Christy Moore, De Dannan and all the top names from the Irish Folk world. They recorded five albums plus various singles and a video before the band eventually split. Joe and Malcolm remained firm friends and joined forces over the years for selective recordings and live shows.

Joe went on to run a seminal music venue in London (The Weavers) and to develop his song -writing and solo performing career. His composition 'Met You In Mullingar' featured on the massive Celtic Chillout album. He received a lifetime achievement award from The Irish World newspaper in London, in recognition of his services to Irish folk music and he is one of the few people to have recorded with American folk legend Tom Paxton.

Malcolm Rogers is now an award winning travel journalist crossing the world and writing for London's Irish Post, amongst other publications. By coincidence Joe now also writes a weekly column for The Irish Post.

About Mary Buckley Clarke
Mary Buckley Clarke was born in Dublin but grew up in Cork where she has spent most of her life. She has published many works in a variety of genre including short stories for children. Her poetry has featured in numerous poetry magazines/ news papers and anthologies. In the past she has written and broadcast a week long series of spiritual reflections on RTE radio.

More recently she has been working as a lyricist in collaboration with various musicians, receiving air play on local and national radio stations. Two of her songs were placed 3rd and 4th in a major American Song contest in recent years. Along with writing, Mary Buckley Clarke’s other passion is her love for horses. For many years she was one of the few breeders of pure bred Arabian horses in Ireland. Her stock excelling in performance and have been exported to Scotland/France and England. Her study of the breed has been extensive and she cherished this beautiful breed for itself and for the influence it had on so many breeds world wide. The origin of the ‘Thoroughbred’ of course tracing to three famous Arabian Stallions. With ‘Curragh Mist’, Mary Buckley Clarke has combined her two abiding passions, a tribute to the Irish Horse, and the wonderful place that is called 'The Curragh'